DME or Car Rental

[Thickey]

So we are off to WDW in September and currently we plan to take magical express from the airport to our resort and a day later pick up a hire car for the length of our stay and then get magical express back to the airport.

A previous time I have rented a car from the airport which was ok but I HATE freeway driving, I am happy buzzing around the Disney complex but staying off site that time every trip involved going on the freeway and I felt like I was going to crash every 5 seconds.

Last year we got a taxi from Sanford and used Disney busses for our stay and then got a taxi back. Decided that the busses suck at park closing and so this year we are back to car rental but staying onsite.

So I am torn between taking magical express which we haven't done before and renting a car from the airport rather than at Disney. I have seen stories that the time it takes to get from the airport to resort via magical express can vary quite a bit.

I think I have come down on the side of getting the car at the airport as it will end up being quicker.. I will just have to make sure I get the damage waver on the car

I'm just looking for the opinion of some others here and confirmation that I am crazy or sane.

 

[wilma-bride]

If I was renting a car anyway, there is no way I would be going through the rigmarole of getting DME from the airport. The one and only time I have done it, it took nearly 3 hours from arriving at the airport to getting resort (and immigration, on that particular occasion, took literally 10 minutes).

 

[BudgieMama]

DME works well for us, as we don't want a car during our trip. If we did want a car, I'd just go for airport pick up. DME is great if you don't want a car, but as you're planning to pick up a car later that day, like wilma-bride, I can't see the point of waiting around for your DME bus rather than taking the car.

 

[richmo]

A couple comments:
- It wasn't clear to me if you're coming into Sanford again. If so, keep in mind that there is no DME service from Sanford. You would have to either rent a car or take a taxi.
- If you're arriving/departing from Orlando International (MCO), you do have the DME or rent a car option. I understand your fear of freeways. Interstate 4 can be difficult to drive thru Orlando and towards Disney. I'm actually surprised the speed limit is so high in that area with all the tourists wandering the lanes. However, if all the freeway driving you will be doing is from MCO, if you rent a car and take the South exit out of the airport and follow FL-417 to Disney, you will find a much calmer road. There are a couple $1.50 tolls along the way, but the level of traffic is WAY below what you encounter on I-4.

 

[dogdangling]

The south exit was very easy and light on traffic.

 

[cliveywolves]

We always do something similar, DME from MCO to resort ( time from landing to resort average 1.30hr fingers crossed now we never had any issues ) always founds line q's at MCO & MIA shocking at best for car hire, we then collect our hire car from DTD resort hotel on Day 3, Then we drive back from resort to MCO or MIA all depended where our holiday ends up finishing...

We prefer this way , it just seems to work well for us... Also we prefer to stay onsite around DW & DTD for the first couple of days so no need for car hire really.

 

[chmurf]

If I were to rent a car anyway I wouldn't spend valuable time to get the DME, the waste time taking a shuttle to get the car, wasting more time dropping the car off and shuttling back to wait again for a DME with a 4hrs prior appointment ...

As mentionned, the south exit has very light traffic into wdw
But even the north exit can be done without driving on I4 there's only a couple of miles on 528 then off onto sand lake rd, and at the I4 junction beyond the bridge it's left on turkey lake road which continues as palm parkway and before you know it you're on 535 at crossroads

 

[cliveywolves]

Each for there I own I guess, but we have experienced a near 2 hour wait at MIA & over 1 hour wait at MCO to collect a hire car, hence why we collect our car now after a couple days after we arrive... DME has always served us very well and been in resort hotel within hour and half of landing most times...

 

[Elise79]

We did use DME a few times to get to the resort so I could have a drink on the flight but after trip three and having sat again on the bus waiting we decided to go back to getting the car from the airport.

It has always taken at least 90 minutes from reaching the DME area to get to the resort.

I choose car hire with an express service so we don't get desk delays.

 

[Tony Toon]

We usually pick our car up at MCO and then head over to WDW. 3 years ago we got MDE to OKW and picked up a car after a week. If memory serves me correct it took just over an hour. from leaving immigration to arriving at OKW. This year we decided that as we were arriving on 1st July and wouldn't use a car over 4th July weekend we would again do MDE and pick up a car later. Very glad we did - immigration was a tad busy (nightmare actually ) and whilst walking past the car rental desks to get to MDE the queues at all the desks looked to be horrendous. We walked straight on to a lovely air conditioned bus that left promptly and delivered us straight to SSR about 40 minutes after getting through immigration. We'd never have done it so quickly if we had picked up a car. Buses to the parks at SSR have been great and we were upgraded to a lovely brand new Toyota Corolla Sport when we picked up or car from Disney Car Care on the 5th July.

Mrs TT

 

[chmurf]

we have experienced a near 2 hour wait at MIA & over 1 hour wait at MCO to collect a hire car,

MIA is an horrible airport to pick up a car at (and they don't have DME, lol)

at MCO the rental agencies move to express / direct to garage service so it's no longer an issue at all if you book in advance.

last time we were off the plane, through Alamo's desk, on the road, and parking at AoA in just under an hour (and we had to wait for over 10 minutes to collect our bags) even though I reckon we were on an indirect, so no immigration for us in MCO

 

[bex7583]

we like to take ME we can both have a drink on the lane if we want and also when we fly indirect in can be rather a long day . i suppose it depends what time of day you arrive , how long you may have been awake etc

but i prefer to use ME

 

[DisneyBelle_x]

We take the ME as its just more relaxed than worrying about driving after the long flight when tired and usually pick up a car the next day or a few days in, always at hotel in good timing and never had any issues. Do tend to drive back to the airport myself though rather than using it

 

[cliveywolves]

We take the ME as its just more relaxed than worrying about driving after the long flight when tired and usually pick up a car the next day or a few days in, always at hotel in good timing and never had any issues. Do tend to drive back to the airport myself though rather than using it

Yep exactly our thoughts on the experience ....

 

[Jon84]

Rent a car and join the car hires express service to go direct to the garage and pickup your car if you are worried about queues at the desk. The Dollar Express has not failed me yet, and it's free to sign up

 

[Thickey]

A couple comments:
- It wasn't clear to me if you're coming into Sanford again.
- if you rent a car and take the South exit out of the airport and follow FL-417 to Disney, you will find a much calmer road. There are a couple $1.50 tolls along the way, but the level of traffic is WAY below what you encounter on I-4.

Sorry I should have made it clear, or assumed that everyone nows DME goes from MCO only... Anyway.. We are flying into MCO

I didn't think about taking non freeway route. This sounds like a good idea, I need to watch a youtube video about driving in the states as I still don't understand when and when I can not turn right on a red light (I got a fine last time )

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[richmo]

...
I didn't think about taking non freeway route. This sounds like a good idea, I need to watch a youtube video about driving in the states as I still don't understand when and when I can not turn right on a red light (I got a fine last time )...

Just to clarify, the FL-417 route from the South Exit of MCO is a freeway route, with tolls. However, it is almost always much less congested than the usual North Exit route (FL-528 and I-4).

Oh...and you can turn right on red anywhere in the USA, unless there is a "No Turn on Red" sign at the intersection. On newer signs, also look for a red dot at the bottom of the sign.

I give all of you credit for successfully driving here. I think I would crash a car within five minutes trying to drive on the left side in the UK.

 

[Thickey]

Thanks for the comments everyone, I have decided that to rent the car from the airport. I am a hertz gold member (joined via the dreams unlimited group) so I *think* this will be as quick as I can get it. Last time I did it the collection and drop off was very fast.

We have seats in the bubble of the 747 with Virgin (not PE ) but this should mean that we will get the jump on everyone else getting off the plane and customs, with a but of luck anyway.

 

[Thickey]

Just to clarify, the FL-417 route from the South Exit of MCO is a freeway route, with tolls. However, it is almost always much less congested than the usual North Exit route (FL-528 and I-4).

Oh...and you can turn right on red anywhere in the USA, unless there is a "No Turn on Red" sign at the intersection. On newer signs, also look for a red dot at the bottom of the sign.

I give all of you credit for successfully driving here. I think I would crash a car within five minutes trying to drive on the left side in the UK.

I will play around with google maps and see what it tells me to do. I didn't notice any no turn signs but I will look out for a red dot.

Once you have two or three close misses you soon learn which side you should be driving on!

 

[richmo]

I will play around with google maps and see what it tells me to do.

The trickiest part of the drive to WDW from MCO is often getting out of the airport grounds itself. If you decide to take the FL-417 route (also called the Greeneway), be sure to carefully follow the 'South Exit' signs as you leave the airport. You may get the feeling you are driving in circles and, depending upon how you exit the parking garage, you may be. Just keep your eyes open for the brown 'South Exit' signs while on airport property. Once you leave the airport, you'll drive a couple miles until you reach FL-417. If you decide on taking the FL-528/I-4 route, do the same, but follow the 'North Exit' signs out of the airport. As I said earlier, the South Exit route tends to be less crowded and this is most true at business rush hours (until about 10:00 weekday mornings, then again after 3:00 weekday afternoons).

Keep the times above in mind returning to the airport also. And...when returning, carefully watch for the brown 'Rental Car Return' signs on airport ground. It can be a little tricky to follow.